Electric Scooters Are Booming in Italy: What It Means If You're Buying or Selling Used

The numbers behind the boom: two-wheelers up 13.2%, electric up 20.7%

Italy's two-wheeler market closed the first half of 2026 with 228,181 new registrations, up 13.2% on the same period in 2025, according to ANCMA data reported by Il Fatto Quotidiano. Scooters are the main driver of that growth, but the figure that matters most for the used market is the electric one: 5,376 electric two-wheelers were registered in the first six months of the year, up 20.7% year on year, according to Moto.it. Electric scooters alone account for 3,376 units (+23.53%), while electric motorcycles, still small in absolute volume, posted a striking +224%. The real acceleration came in late spring and early summer: May closed at +46.52% and June went even further, up 63.55%, with 1,485 units sold versus 908 in the same month of 2025.

Why electric scooters are accelerating right now

The main driver behind this surge is the Ecobonus, the state incentive that, since 1 January 2026, covers 30% of the purchase price up to 3,000 euros, rising to 40% and up to 4,000 euros if a combustion vehicle up to Euro 3 is scrapped as part of the deal, as RED Live explains. The electric market was already up 8.53% in the first quarter, according to Il Giornale d'Italia, but it was the arrival of warmer months, combined with funds still available, that made registrations truly take off. This is not a one-off spike: at the Automotive Table meeting on 30 January 2026, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy already earmarked a further 90 million euros to fund a new Ecobonus for the 2027-2030 period, a sign that electric two-wheelers have become a structural priority rather than a temporary bonus.

What it means for the used market: more trade-ins, more choice

For anyone buying or selling on a marketplace like VendiVoce, these figures are more than statistics — they are a preview of what the used market will look like over the next 12 to 24 months. Every new electric scooter registered with the Ecobonus, especially when tied to a trade-in, sets off a chain reaction: an older combustion scooter leaves the road (or feeds the parts market), while the new owner begins a usage cycle that, in two or three years, will translate into a larger supply of well-kept used electric scooters. Anyone shopping for a used one today can already see a pattern familiar from the car market: rising new registrations tend to boost overall confidence in the technology, which supports used values rather than depressing them, because the market starts treating electric as mature rather than experimental.

Watch out for the 12-month resale clause

There is one technical detail that anyone selling an incentivized vehicle needs to know well: the Ecobonus rules, both the 2026 scheme and the one announced for 2027-2030, prohibit reselling the subsidized vehicle within 12 months of purchase. If you are considering a used electric scooter that looks practically new, with very low mileage and listed for sale just a few months after first registration, it is worth asking whether it was bought with the state incentive. A listing like that, before the 12-month mark has passed, is at the very least something to raise with the seller, since it could have consequences for the incentive received.

Buying a used electric scooter: the essential checklist

Unlike a petrol scooter, the variable that really determines a used electric scooter's value is the battery, not the engine. Before signing anything, it is worth doing a few things: check the battery's health (many models, such as NIU or Askoll units with removable packs, show charge cycles through an app); ask whether the battery is owned outright or rented, a common arrangement on some models that changes future running costs; ask about servicing and software updates, which manufacturers often handle remotely; and compare the range the current owner reports with the original spec, since battery ageing can cut real-world range by 15-20%. Official used-market valuation tools for brands like Piaggio, NIU and Askoll, available on specialist platforms, remain a solid starting point for checking whether the asking price is in line with the market.

Which models are holding their value best

On the new side, the most accessible models are a good indicator of where the used market will shift in a couple of years: the NIU MQi+ Sport starts at 1,999 euros, the Askoll eS2 City at 2,490 euros, the Piaggio 1 at 2,950 euros and the Silence S02 at 3,280 euros, according to InsideEVs Italia. These high-volume entry-level models are exactly the ones that, a few years from now, will make up the most in-demand slice of the used market — buyers looking for an affordable second electric vehicle for city use.

The practical takeaway if you are buying or selling now

If you own an electric scooter and are thinking about selling, the timing is favourable: demand for electric is rising, so is confidence in the technology, and a listing with clear data on battery health, charge cycles and remaining range stands out immediately from the rest. If you are shopping for a used one instead, do not let the lowest price alone guide the decision: always ask about battery condition and check there are no lingering restrictions tied to a still-active state incentive. With another 90 million euros of Ecobonus funding arriving from 2027, Italy's electric two-wheeler market is set to keep growing, and anyone who learns to properly evaluate a used electric scooter today starts from a position of advantage.